Abstract

The back-reflected photons from samples in optical-resolution photoacoustic microscopy are usually discarded and the optical scattering information carried by these photons is therefore ignored. By employing a 2×2 single-mode fiber optical coupler in a laser-scanning optical-resolution photoacoustic microscope for delivering the illuminating laser light and collecting the back reflected photons, a fiber-optic confocal microscope is integrated with the photoacoustic microscope. Hence, simultaneous multimodal imaging can be achieved with a single light source and images from the two modalities are intrinsically registered. Such capabilities are demonstrated in imaging both phantoms and small animals in vivo.

© 2010 Optical Society of America